The Detroit Historical Society: Modern Day Adventurer Program

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The Detroit Historical Society is presenting A Guide To Being A Modern Day Adventurer on Saturday May 30, 2009.  Some of the modern tools cited include flashlights, iPhones, and GPS devices.  They are opening up their archives for one night only.  Guests get a reception in the transportation storage facility and a guided tour through the archives.  Items from Native American artifacts to Motown outfits will be on display.  Tickets must be purchased by Friday May 23, 2009 by calling (313) 833-7938 or on the website at www.detroithistorical.org.  This isn’t a field trip opportunity for your students, most likely.  It might be a good field trip for teachers who could then pull some of these resources into their classroom from the experience.

Podcast #73 Award Award Assembly Conundrum!

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Why were you late ?
Sorry, teacher, I overslept.
You mean you need to sleep at home too !

Teacher: Class, we will have only half a day of school this morning.
Class: Hooray
Teacher: We will have the other half this afternoon!

Teacher: You missed school yesterday didn’t you ?
Pupil: Not very much !

Teacher: I’d like to go through one whole day without having to tell you to stop talking.
Pupil: You have my permission !

Be sure that you go straight home
I can’t, I live just round the corner !

Events and Happenings:

  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.
  3. NMSA ‘09 Elections must be in by May 15th.  (Vote for Jeff LaRoux!)
  4. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.  Conference registration info.
  5. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event.
  6. Any information on the Ontario Middle Level Association?  Their site has gone dark and we hope this does not mean the demise of the Association.
  7. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.
    • ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus with satellite access for Twittering, Facebooking, and other 21st Century technology access for less than $100.00.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
    • Keynote speakers for NMSA ’09 have been announced:  Daniel Pink (political connections) opens and Rick Wormeli closes.
  8. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  9. Brainyflix extends their “video vocabulary” contest to May 22, 2009.
  10. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Copyright and Creative Commons for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  12. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.

iTunes:

We’re at 8 reviews on iTunes, we are throwing down the gauntlet to make it to 10.

From the Twitterverse:

Listener’s Letters:

Hello famous iTunes podcasters

Just for fun, I googled the words “student award certificates” and received 481,000 relevant entries. Certainly I know as a teacher the importance of celebrating the success of our students. And providing the incentive for recognition at an awards assembly can be a motivator for some. But there are two things I question, from what I have seen, on which you might have opinions.

Observation #1: At an awards assembly in a 5-8 middle school, the principal asked the 300+ student body to hold up and wave any awards they had received during the presentation. As I glanced around the bleachers, it seemed that everyone had something to show for their accomplishments. But I wonder if this is too much. If everyone is rewarded, how effective an incentive can recognition be? At college graduation ceremonies, academic excellence awards such as Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude and Summa Cum Laude are marked individually with sashes or cords of various colors. And you don’t tend to see the entire graduating body displaying this accomplishment. And yet, they have all met the undeniably outstanding goal of a college education. They are beaming with self-esteem regardless of whether they were displaying the adornments of high academic success.

If we are truly preparing students with authentic content and experiences, shouldn’t we be clear on the reality that everyone does not earn honors, an award, or a certificate for doing what is already expected of them as students? Every single child is a winner just by virtue of them learning both academic content and life skills as they attend school each and every day throughout the school year. Shouldn’t we be stressing self-management and recognition of worth instead of tying it so heavily to extrinsic displays of pomp and circumstance?

Observation #2: Following streams of students receiving one certificate after another, I would have expected to see recognition for a teacher’s success as well. From the students’ view, one would believe that teachers are neither striving for nor attaining success on a regular basis in their own lives. Yet, how many teachers during a marking period or school year attend seminars and workshops or pursue ongoing academic fulfillment in graduate courses? If we are acting as role models to our students, don’t we need to do a better job reflecting our commitment to ongoing education and love of learning? What role does our school administration have in this process?

As intelligent and experienced educators, this good work that you do is expected. But even though I provide no certificate, ribbon or award, I’m sure you are self-motivated by the intrinsic satisfaction received from your website and podcast success. Itunes ratings cannot compare to your internal mechanisms that generate the love of learning and sharing with others. It is appreciated.

Web Sitings:

Press Kit for promoting the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference.   http://www.nmsa.org/annual/AbouttheConference/PromotionalTools/tabid/1882/Default.aspx
Differentiated Classroom:  Characteristics and reference for the classroom.
tuesdays with Karen:  An educator’s blog.
EdTech Conference on iTunesU.
MyRead http://www.myread.org/
NMSA’s suggestions for how you can spend your Education Stimulus money!
Math and Technology Comics.

Shout Outs!

  1. Karen C. Seddon, thanks for the review on your blog!
  2. Teresa Sutherland & Jenny McAvoy-Anteau for their shout-outs on Twitter this week!

News of the Weird:

News:

Superintendent Thinks Small in Plan to Revamp Middle Grades

“If you haven’t got them by the end of their eighth-grade year, you’re going to lose them,” Summers said.
Under Sherman’s plan, George Washington Middle School, which has 950 students, would be divided into two schools. Hammond Middle School, which has 1,350 students, would be split into three.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/16/AR2009041603943.html?hpid=sec-education

Seven Steps to Flatten Your Classroom Free eBook!

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Ever listen to teachers talking about how they connected their classroom to one far, far, away?  Told yourself, “I’d like to do that!”  Then this is the handy-dandy book for you.  On ISTE Island tonight the authors discussed their classroom connection.  You can get a free download of the ebook Seven Steps to Flatten Your Classroom.  You can see the archive of their presentation at the ISTE SL webpage.

MAMSE Wrap-Up: Academic Achievement: “Achieving Excellence” by J. Sherbeck & J. Gronski

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White Pine staff Jayne Sherbeck and Jennifer Gronski presented their take on the “Zeroes Aren’t Permitted” concept they use on their team.  In a ZAP program students are given levels of intervention to get their work in to the teacher.  Parents are told about the program through a letter sent home by the teaching team.  Students get a ZAP form each time they have missing work.  If they get “Zapped” they can come in before, during, or after school to make the work up.  The number of ZAPs diminishes over time when students realize that teachers are following through on the program.  “Lunch Buddies” are students pulled from lunch to eat in a teacher’s room and complete missing work.  The school counselor takes these kids twice a week to spell the teachers.  Pink sheets are given to students to remind them to show up to their before/lunch/after school work session.  After school sessions are held 2-3 days a week with certified personnel staffing the session.  Teams communicate with the after school team through folders and notes.  The end of each team’s day is spent in GYST (Get Your Stuff Together) where they get 15 minutes to complete any missing work, or get help from a teacher.  If all the work is in, they can study, do SSR, or that day’s homework.  The driving idea is to get them ready for the next day’s work.  For students needing more intervention the team prepares an Individual Student Accountability Sheet.  Students with D’s or E’s in their Core classes are put on the sheet and the team records what they’ve done to assist the student that week.  It includes things like parent phone calls, emails, parent meetings, and their attendance in the ZAP program.  Each team has a “redo” policy.  If the student turns in an assignment, just to turn it in, it gets returned until it is up to the teacher’s standards.  Students doing poorly on tests must fill out a retake form which includes making a plan to study to retake the test, not just retaking the test because that’s what they’re supposed to do.  They have to show how they’ve prepared for the test or quiz.  Their grading program is automatically set up to send an email to the parent notifying them if their student’s grade falls below a C-.  Students receive weekly parent communication sheets listing the assignments from the previous week from the Team.  Students can return the sheets to their teachers for classroom points.  Any student not returning a sheet receives a call to their parents.  Some students participate in “Study Island” where they receive MEAP style questions in subjects in which they need additional work.  Completing sections of the program gets them blue ribbon recognition in the hallway.  There’s more to the program than what’s listed here and you can contact them at jmsherbe@stcs.org or jjgronsk@stcs.org.

MAMSE Wrap-up: Center for Excellence in Education (CMU)

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If we keep adding stuff to the show, we’re going to be well into a 2 hour podcast.  With all the news that’s coming along I could keep putting off my MAMSE notes forever.  It took a long time to get through our NMSA 08 wrap-up!  Considering that, here’s part of my MAMSE wrap-up for MAMSE 09.

This year’s conference was held in Saginaw Township and one of Michigan’s Schools to Watch.  Lots of cold weather this year countered by warm friendships.  In no particular order, and I’m sure I won’t have all the ones I attended, here are the sessions I attended.

Central Michigan’s Center for Excellence in Education:  Instructional Strategies to Support Differentiated Instruction by Polly Matyorauta & Pat Benson.  This was a well done presentation on strategies used to support differentiated classroom instruction on the fly.  Those of you who are familiar with Kagan Structures will recognize some of these.

  • 30 Second Speech – After a reading or presentation of new content, students are asked to create a short 30 second speech to deliver to one other person in the classroom.
  • Air Traffic Controller – The teacher poses a question but before taking responses assigns numbers in which the answers “land” and then goes from response to response withholding any teacher feedback after each response.
  • Attention First – The teacher can reclaim lost chatter time by using a physical cue to indicate that attention needs to come back to the teacher.
  • Corners – Students select a corner of the room to discuss a particular topic or aspect of the reading or presented information.  For example, a teacher might put four quotes around the room and allow students to select the quote they want to discuss before coming back to their desks to reflect or write about the quote as a prompt.
  • Graphic Organizers – visual frames to organize information.
  • Metaphorically Speaking – Students are given objects and then asked to come up statements from the learning that use the object as a metaphor.  For example, the Scientific Method is like a Road Map because it provides a path to help me find solutions.  (Ok, I shouldn’t be giving the examples on this one . . .)
  • Minute Fingers – While students work in cooperative groups, sometimes they need more time.  The teacher can ask the groups to come to an agreement on how much time they need (which can also be zero) and then hold up the number of fingers indicating the amount of time they want.
  • Most Important Point (MIP) – Students summarize the class period on a sticky note and post it on the wall or door as an exit ticket as they leave for the day.
  • Quiz-Quiz-Trade – This is a Kagan Structure where students write down a question from the content on a 3 X 5 card with the answer.  They pair up and each asks their questions.  Whether they get it right or wrong, they trade cards and then find new partners.
  • Say Something – Students pair up for a reading.  One student reads for a bit and then the other summarizes what the first student read, switch roles.
  • Show, Don’t Say – When the kids are in cooperative groups, don’t just tell them how much time they have left.  Tell them they have “this many minutes” left, and hold up a number of fingers forcing them to look at your hand to see how many minutes are left.

One of the pieces they used that I kept and didn’t turn in was a reflective writing sheet.  In a square at the top of the page was typed, “What Squares with my thinking?”  Halfway down the page was written, “What’s still circling around in my head?”  At the bottom of the page in a triangle they put, “Three points I want to remember from today.”

Podcast 72: The Twitterverse, Jail??, and Free Stuff!

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Events and Happenings:

  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009.
  3. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.  This video spotlight focuses on the building of the technology demonstration classrooms at last year’s Denver Annual Conference.
  4. NMSA ‘09 Elections must be in by May 15th.
  5. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.  Conference registration info.
  6. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event.
  7. Any information on the Ontario Middle Level Association?  Their site has gone dark and we hope this does not mean the demise of the Association.
  8. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.
    • ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus with satellite access for Twittering, Facebooking, and other 21st Century technology access for less than $100.00.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
  9. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  10. Brainyflix extends their “video vocabulary” contest to May 22, 2009.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Digital Storytelling for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  13. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.

iTunes Reviews:

We’re at 8, we are throwing down the gauntlet to make it to 10.

From the Twitterverse:

Web Sitings:

Letters

“Troy and Shawn,
Great show this week.  I liked the idea about decorating classroom doorways.  I think we’ll try it this September as an ice breaking activity.
Two questions:  1) I am trying to come up with an all school middle school read for the summer.  My school is mainly boys.  Any suggestions?  2) I would like to assign a book to the teachers for the summer as well.  Any suggestions for us teachers?
Keep up the great work!  Maybe I’ll have all the teachers listen to all 70 some-odd MSM podcasts over the summer. It’s worth it.”

Book Ideas:

  • For the kids:
    • What if . . .
      • You tied in a historical fiction piece to your social studies curriculum?
      • You tied in a piece of local biography or state/local history?
      • You then had them present their stuff in some format when they returned from summer break?  Learning Contracts?
      • You made it a fundraiser through Barnes & Noble where the kids could purchase off of a preselected list?  This gives you control over the choices, but still gives them a choice.
  • For the teachers:

Izzit.org

“FYI

http://teachertechblog.com/izzitorgquality-articles-and-discussion-questions-for-current-events-free/79/

Beth Wellington said:

I’m not sure of the excellence of the [izzit.org] teachers guides. Looking a recent one on pay caps for executives who receive bailout money, for instance, while there are two articles w. differing views, the discussion questions have a conservative skew. My suspicions were aroused further by the fact that there is no staff page, nor a funding page, which you will find at many non-profits.
Anyone know who the funders are for this site? The staff? The The email to teachers offering a free video on how sun spots cause climate change came from Kara Glaven, who lists her title as “Teacher Support.” When I looked her up on LinkedIn, however, her title was “Marketing/Customer Service at Palmer R. Chitester Fund.”

Rob Levine’s Media Transparency profile says

The Palmer R. Chitester Fund was created…with startup money from the Bradley Foundation, to create right wing “popular” media, and lately has taken to selling educational materials based on the error-prone reporting of ABC TV’s arch-conservative correspondent John Stossel. Its Idea Channel distributes “intellectual” videotapes on conversations between mostly members of the right wing movement on topics ranging from political science to economics to history.”

Beth Wellington?

Izzit Staff page.
Kara Glaven presents at the Ohio Council for the Social Studies.
Kara Glaven on another teacher resource page.
Kara Glaven cited in the newspaper.
Kara Glaven marketing videos.
Kara Glaven marketing more videos.
Rick Platt presents at the Florida Council for the Social Studies.
Rick Platt presents awards.
Rick Platt also works for Free To Choose Media (a PBS series).
Rick Platt works with Good Neighbor Law to fund inner-city trips for kids.  (“Throughout the whole presentation, students and teachers were asked to generate their own questions for further discussion.”)
Rick Platt‘s post in Businessweek.
Candy Mead
Dawnn Warner ‘s Linkedin page.
Dawnn Gilbert Warner‘s production credit page.

Persons referenced in Izzit.org’s videos:
Host Scott Bakula’s political contributions.
Drew Carey’s political contributions.
David Robinson references.
Milton Friedman’s Bio.  His Facebook group page.
Leonard Read’s Bio and his essay referenced in one of the videos.

John Stossel was at one time directly affiliated with Izzit.org.  He has his own video distribution network.  His site is linked to Izzit.org.
Stossel’s political essays.
Praise & Criticism
New York Times Articles
ABC video
Conservative Watchdog Report on Stossel
Liberal Watchdog Report on Stossel

News:

Let’s just put them all in jail 24/7

“…and let’s face it, we’re talking about nothing less than institutionalizing “child labor” to satisfy a failed belief that higher standardized test scores will reliably lead to a stronger economy, more prosperous citizens, and a vibrant democracy.”

Anyone who can master something that he or she is passionate about,

Can learn anything!

Bring passion back into education — and kick out the standards!

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

Virginia Mobile Learning Apps Development Challenge

http://www.lwbva.org/applications.cfm

Virginia to use iTunes U in new education initiative

http://www.macworld.com/article/139969/2009/04/virginia.html?lsrc=rss_main

Susan Boyle as an Advisory Idea

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There’s been a lot made about Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s national talent show.  If it hasn’t popped up in your area yet, Miss Boyle is from a village in Scotland and sings in the church choir with a little karaoke on the side.  She appeared on Britain’s Got Talent with the hope to launch a singing career.  

Many of the news (NBC, Today, ABC, CBS, Fox) sites focus on her incredible voice and how she made the curmudgeons on the judging panel change their attitude from her pre-performance interview to her after-performance accolades.  You can catch the whole segment from the show on YouTube (tear jerker alert) and its worth the watching not only for the singing, but for the audience reactions that come through.  

Several cuts focus on audience members questioning her talent before she performs.  One of the cuts before she begins to sing is a young lady covering her face in anticipation of impending failure.  Confidently she tells the judges why she’s there, what she plans to sing (which they infer is a little ambitious (see time code 1:40ish)) and then . . . . knocks their socks off.  

Tie that in with this human interest article from The Herald on her background.  Sounds like a set up for an Advisory discussion.  

Comedian Ken Davis poses three questions on his site to think about as one watches the video that would be great discussion generators: 

“1.  Why was the audience so incredibly rude in the beginning?   (0:00 – 1:54) 
 2.  Why were the Judges surprised that this woman could sing?  (1:55 – 4:25) 
 3.  What was YOUR wake up call as you watched?”  (4:26 – 7:07) (Questions and emphasis his, time codes mine.)

Additional pages:  NBC Today, Facebook Fan Page 1, Facebook Fan Page 2, Fan Page 3, Fan Page 4, Blog, Possible Example Ans. to #3, Paul Potts.    

One of the teams in my building used to present each student on the team a “Cracker Jack” award in their team meetings to recognize the hidden prize inside each student.  The presentation could be anything from serious to silly depending on the student and the talent being recognized.  Wouldn’t this be a nice lead-in to such a meeting?

Podcast 71- Grading, Bad Segues, and Advisory

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When you hear the toilet flush and the words “uh oh”, it’s already too late.

Funny Faces Joke #1:
Finding one of her students making faces at others on the playground, Ms. Smith stopped to
gently reprove the child.
Smiling sweetly, the Sunday school teacher said…
“Johnny, when I was a child, I was told if that I made ugly faces, it would freeze and I would
stay like that.”
Johnny looked up and replied…
“Well, Ms Smith, you can’t say you weren’t warned.”

Funny Faces Joke #2:
“I don’t know where you got your face from, but i hope you have the receipt”.

Teacher…
“What a glum face, what would you say if I came to school with a face like yours?”
Pupil…
“I’d be too polite to mention it!”

A little boy came running into the kitchen…
“Dad, dad,” he said, “there’s a monster at the door with a really ugly face.”
“Tell him you’ve already got one,” said his father.

“My teacher’s got a pretty face if you can read between the lines.”

“You’ve got a face like a million dollars!”
“Have I really?”
“Yes – it’s green and wrinkly!”

Events and Happenings:

  1. The National Middle School Association is looking for an editor for their Research in Middle Level Education Journal (RMLE).
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009.
  3. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.  This video spotlight focuses on the building of the technology demonstration classrooms at last year’s Denver Annual Conference.
  4. NMSA ‘09 Elections must be in by May 15th.
  5. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.
  6. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event.
  7. Any information on the Ontario Middle Level Association?  Their site has gone dark and we hope this does not mean the demise of the Association.
  8. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.
    • ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus with satellite access for Twittering, Facebooking, and other 21st Century technology access for less than $100.00.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
  9. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  10. Free Professional Development through Webinars! NMSA is offering previously recorded webinars for free from their website.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  12. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Screencasting for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  13. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.

From the Twitterverse:

  • AngelaMaiers World Digital Library Aims to Be “Unrivalled Educational Tool” http://tinyurl.com/clxese.
  • sharon_elin Working on report of survey results: “What’s blocked at your school?”; hope to share it this weekend. Mom’s surgery interrupted the process!
  • cookp For those of you with 1:1 laptop programs, please share your districts main reasons for the models you chose. Looking at Apple over Dell.
  • LadyParadis the only sound heard / in the silence of the night / a beetle scratching #haiku
  • cathyjo RT @hollybounds: Do you think teachers should use Twitter as a way to comm w/ parents? Or do you like the whole “send a note home” routine?
  • willrich45 Reading Nat’l Coun Soc Stud Position Statement on Media Literacy. http://tinyurl.com/cw9cpc Some interesting analysis of the times.
  • deangroom Twelfth Night in Second Life http://tinyurl.com/dahlln Anyas great post and images!
  • liteNup RT @DouglasStuart: Amateurs wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work. http://jijr.com/hxNI
  • LadyParadis “By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day” ~Robert Frost

Shout-outs:

  1. Congratulations to David Virtue the new editor of the Middle School Journal!

From our Listeners:


WOW!  Now the pressure’s on … 🙂

Web Sightings:

http://www.uri.org/kids/world.htm – Welcome to the United Religions Initiative, a growing global community working to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings. From its beginning, URI has been a vision and an invitation. The vision is that people from all different faiths can work together to make the world a better place for everyone. The invitation is to everyone in the world – boys and girls, women and men – to help make this vision a reality.

World Library goes online April 21, 2009

From the above Twitter post:  Warning Label Generator

Advisory Ideas:

4 Corners..Agree A Little, Disagree, Agree, Disagree A
Little…use any topic to discuss points of view
Debate/Opinion Topics

http://www.dosomething.org/

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/29/a9/6e.pdf

Advisory Resource: Gossip Girls and Boys Get Lessons in Empathy (Letters to the Editor about the article)

News:

Senate passes teacher contract bill

BOISE, Idaho – The Senate voted 26-8 to let school districts modify contracts to reduce teacher pay in financial emergencies.
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/813714.html

Plano considers alternative grading policy for middle schools

Cheat on a test, get a zero. Turn in a late assignment, the grade suffers. They are the long-established rules of engagement in school.

Recent research shows that assigning grades by themselves, without teachers providing consistent and specific feedback, doesn’t aid student progress, he said. He supports policies such as the one Plano is considering.

PLANO ISD’S PROPOSAL
Plano schools have begun considering a new grading policy for middle schoolers. School officials hoped to roll out the new policy next school year but are delaying to collect more feedback and input from teachers and principals. Here are highlights from the proposal:
Situation Current practice Recommended middle-school policy
Late work Teachers deduct points for late assignments. Some late work would not result in lost points.
Cheating An assignment receives a zero or a failing grade. School officials would assign a consequence other than a grade reduction.
Nonacademic behavior Students are docked points for disorganization or being off-task. Students would receive conduct grades but not overall grade reductions.
Homework Homework is graded for completion or accuracy. Some homework wouldn’t be graded.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/040809dnmetplanograding.3f3fbb8.html

Student responsibility needs to be nurtured

Whose responsibility is education? Some days it seems that our students view responsibility as a burden, some horrendous task that they are forced to take on. So often, responsibility for just about everything is projected by our students onto someone else.

Reading Test Dummies (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/opinion/23hirsch.html?_r=1)

“Let’s imagine a different situation. Students now must take annual reading tests from third grade through eighth. If the reading passages on each test were culled from each grade’s specific curricular content in literature, science, history, geography and the arts, the tests would exhibit what researchers call “consequential validity” — meaning that the tests would actually help improve education. Test preparation would focus on the content of the tests, rather than continue the fruitless attempt to teach test taking.”

Podcast 70- Advisory, Water, and Getting FIT!

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How do you get straight A’S?
–by using a ruler
What happened to the plant in math class?
–it grew square roots
What did the dog get when he graduated from school?
–a pedigree
Why did the teacher go to the beach?
–to test the water
Why was the teacher crossed eye?
–she couldn’t keep her pupils straight

Events and Happenings:

  1. Schools to Watch Conference June 25-27, Washington D.C.
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009.
  3. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.  This video spotlight focuses on the building of the technology demonstration classrooms at last year’s Denver Annual Conference.
  4. NMSA ’09 Elections must be in by May 15th.
  5. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event now and hurry to get your presentation proposals in before the deadline!
  6. Any information on the Ontario Middle Level Association?  Their site has gone dark and we hope this does not mean the demise of the Association.
  7. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis, IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.
    • ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends: MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus with satellite access for Twittering, Facebooking, and other 21st Century technology access for less than $100.00.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
  8. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  9. Free Professional Development through Webinars! NMSA is offering previously recorded webinars for free from their website.
  10. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  11. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Screencasting for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  12. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.
  13. From the Twitterverse:
  • From GardenGlen’s blog:  I needed this Zits Teen Translator when my first was 15. I spend WAY too much time asking questions 2 understand meaning:  http://url.ie/1ew8
  • That kid that gets under your skin?  Here’s one for that:  russeltarrRT @quote_daily: Speak in anger and you will hold the best speech you ever regretted.  Winston Churchill.

    • instruisto RT @screamingeagle1:  “Speak when U are angry and U will make the best speech U will ever regret.”— A Bierce (Hmm, interesting . . .)
  • Our poet laureate:  LadyParadis Sunday morning peeks / over my shoulder to see / what I am up to #haiku.
  • instruisto RT @KlKidwell:  There’s a law in TN legisl. wanting to end tenure for new teachers. Boo!! >:( *Do ppl not get the security/$$$ tradeoff?*)
  • rrmurry RT @guykawasaki:  New Bill Would Give Obama Power Over the Internet http://adjix.com/3922 AC. Ummm- YIKES. A national lead controling info? rrmurry RT @guykawasaki:  New Bill Would Give Obama Power Over the Internet http://adjix.com/3922 AC. Ummm- YIKES. A national lead controling info?  (Note: Links to Mother Jones’s website as news source.)
  • instruisto RT @LoriMoreno:  The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly ~G.K. Chesterton
  • geekbert RT:  @WishAponAStar “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genious has its limits.” -unknown

Shout-outs:

Thanks for the additional anonymous evaluation on iTunes!

From our Listeners:

“This is Jack from BrainyFlix .  If I hadn’t done so already, I wanted to thank you for letting your visitors know about our video contest.  We received about 800 video submissions (way more than we had expected!) and you were a big part of that.  Much appreciated.  :]

I was wondering if your visitors would be interested in an update about BrainyFlix .  I ask because the voting for the video contest is coming up next Monday March 30.  Also, we built this new feature called lolcabulary, which lets kids make a flashcard that has a word attached to an image and sentence.  We’ll be running weekly contests to get kids to make flashcards by giving away iTunes to the winners.  We’re thinking we’ll do themes like “make lolcabulary flashcards about ninjas” and then get teachers we’ve met to pick their favorites made that week.”

Web Sightings:

http://www.factmonster.com/ – Fact Monster is an ideal reference site for kids ages 8-14 that provides entertainment and educational resources. It combines the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas, and several almanacs loaded with statistics, facts, and historical records. A single search engine allows you to search all these sources at once.
In addition to an electronic database that is continuously updated and expanded, the Fact Monster site includes information from the following reference works:

  • The TIME for Kids Almanac®, edited by Beth Rowen of Fact Monster and published by Time Inc.
  • Selected content from The TIME Almanac, with Information Please®, edited by Borgna Brunner of Information Please and published by Time Inc.
  • The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, published by Columbia University Press.
  • Infoplease Dictionary, based on the Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary
  • The Infoplease Atlas, which includes several hundred maps from Magellan Geographix.

I did find ads on the site.

http://mrssmoke.onsugar.com/ – Making Teachers Nerdy

Library of Congress Digital Collection:  http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html

Advisory Ideas:

Life Skill Lessons…how to tie a tie, how to set the table, how to
do anything….celebrate success!!

Q:C:Q: – Quote, Comment, Question…analyze a famous quote, old
or new

Create a Shelter…use newspaper and masking tape to create
shelter the group fits under w/out talking

Tubes and Marbles Race…use half pipes in a race to place a
marble in a bowl on the floor across the room

News:

Structure More Effective In High School Science Classes, Study Reveals

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090326114415.htm

http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_086010229.html

Student fitness bill raises questions

FIT Kids Act would require new data tracking for schools
By Meris Stansbury, Associate Editor

Legislation pending in Congress, called the “Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act” (FIT Kids Act), would update current physical fitness standards in K-12 schools and hold educators accountable for a portion of their students’ health. If passed, the bill would redefine gym class from what it has come to mean for many students and teachers, and the bill also would implement new data tracking and reporting requirements that could necessitate a change in student information system (SIS) software.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=58065

Podcast 69 – Current Cursive, Current Events, & Leftovers from Last Week.

/ , , / , , /

Today’s Quiz:
http://712educators.about.com/library/quizzes/blteacher_personality.htm

Events and Happenings:

  1. Book sale!  NMSA is having a clearance sale until March 31st.
  2. NMSA’s Middle Level Essentials Conference April 23-24, 2009.
  3. NMSA ‘08 Technology Focus Video.  This video spotlight focuses on the building of the technology demonstration classrooms at last year’s Denver Annual Conference.
  4. Educational Technology Leadership Conference, June 24th at Holt High School, Holt, MI. Register for the event now and hurry to get your presentation proposals in before the deadline!
  5. Any information on the Ontario Middle Level Association?  Their site has gone dark and we hope this does not mean the demise of the Association.
  6. NMSA ‘09 Invitation Video:  Indianapolis,  IN Conference  November 5-7, 2009.
    • ATTENTION Michigan Association of Middle School Educators & Friends:MAMSE is putting together a bus for the trip to the National Middle School Association’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, IN this fall.  Ride down to the conference in a luxury bus with satellite access for Twittering, Facebooking, and other 21st Century technology access for less than $100.00.  With all the conversations with middle school teachers on the bus, I wonder if we could call this a mini-MAMSE conference?  There’s nothing like getting together with people who love the people we love:  our students.  (Some of you thought I was going to say something else!)  Getting together with folks like that is energizing and priceless.  Email Teresa Sutherland for information and details.  Don’t forget to mention you heard about it on Middle School Matters.
  7. The National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform will be holding their annual conference in June.  See the flyer at their website for details.
  8. Free Professional Development through Webinars! NMSA is offering previously recorded webinars for free from their website.
  9. Classroom 2.0’s Live Calendar.
  10. Classroom 2.0’s Ning Blog:  This week’s discussion is on the uses of Moodle for Teachers.  Archived content is available.
  11. Second Life:
    • No Events specified.  Regular Tuesday meetings are scheduled.  See the board on the ISTE Island for up to the minute details.
    • Video:  Educational Uses of Second Life
    • There is a conference being held by ISTE in Second Life, wander over to the auditorium behind the Headquarters to check it out.
  12. From the Twitterverse:

Shout-outs:

iTunes shoutouts:  AK Jenny, Tsutherland, and Wirededucator!  Thanks for posting reviews on iTunes for us.   WeFollow:  Thanks to all the folks following us on Twitter & WeFollow.  We’re number one in the middle school category.

From our Listeners:

Vo-tech was always a place where less academic students found refuge and a career path, turning them into productive mechanics, electricians, hair dressers, and such.  Things are changing nowadays, though, and, in some instances, the door is closing on the traditional vo-tech student. Take New Jersey where 27,766 students are enrolled in 21 county-run vocational school […]
Readable handwriting still matters when computers stop working — but folks who get down on their knees before cursive ought to consider this:

Research shows that the fastest and most legible handwriters avoid cursive. Highest-speed, highest-legibility handwriters join some, not all, letters — making the easiest joins, skipping the rest — and tend to use print-like forms of those letters whose printed and cursive forms “disagree.”

Even signatures don’t legally require cursive, and never have. (Don’t take my word for this: note the legal material in the “signatures” area of the FAQ list on my web-site, HandwritingThatWorks.com )

Kate Gladstone
Founder and CEO, Handwriting Repair/Handwriting That Works handwriting instruction/improvement service
Director, the World Handwriting Contest

Web Sightings:

  1. www.zombo.com Absurd, but fun.  Just sit, watch, and enjoy.
  2. http://www.nextvista.org/ – An online library of free videos for learners everywhere – find resources to help you learn just about anything, meet people who make a difference in their communities, and even discover new parts of the world. And Next Vista for Learning wants to post your educational videos online, too. Everyone has an insight to share and yours may be just what some student or teacher somewhere needs!

Advisory Ideas:

  • Don’t Judge a Bag by Its Cover…stuff gift bags with unknown items, students select one, discuss why
  • Life Raft…students stand on top of shower curtain and flip it over without anyone stepping off
  • Tinker Toys…create exact same structure while seated back to back

News:

Going in circles puts students on path to better choices

So maybe there was a little drama between you and another ninth-grader, you know, some problem.

You could get suspended for that at a lot of schools, three days or until your mom or dad comes in and has a conference with the principal or somebody like that.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/41350367.html

Joining the national trend, metro-area schools are using yoga to help students relax and focus

http://www.twincities.com/ci_11901500?nclick_check=1

D.C. Schools Chief Turns To Rookie Teacher Corps

Michele Rhee, the District of Columbia’s public schools chancellor, has done a lot to shake up schools in the nation’s capital. In other words, Rhee is looking for a “new breed” of teachers, mostly 20-somethings fresh out of college, who may not have majored in education but are drawn to teaching; so Rhee is intent on attracting young teachers who aren’t vested in some of the provisions of teachers’ union contract.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102021880

Fix the 9th Grade Problem in PreK

The achievement gap is a deep-seated, long-standing, hard-to-solve issue that isn’t going away unless we use a strategic approach to solve it, Vanderbilt University Professor Joseph Murphy told ASCDers in his session entitled “Leadership Lessons for Closing the Achievement Gap.” His recent research points to some “big-picture conclusions,” including that tackling the problem in high school is often too late.
http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2009/03/fix-the-9th-grade-problem-in-prek.html

It’s OK. You Can Let Go.

http://chalkdust101.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/you-still-need-to-know-stuff/

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